Rep.-elect Joe Kennedy gets a mentor — McGovern

WASHINGTON 
While learning the ropes during new member orientation, Rep.-elect Joseph Kennedy III, whose surname and face are familiar to Capitol Hill, was assigned U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, as his mentor, to help him assimilate into life as a freshman member of Congress.

Mr. Kennedy, grandnephew of the late President John F. Kennedy and the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and grandson of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, D-N.Y., said he has known and admired Mr. McGovern for many years, and is someone who has “set the bar extraordinarily high for me to try to meet.”

“He has always stuck up for what he believes in and fought for what he believes in — and to be able to have somebody like that be a guide for me as I try to find my footing in Washington is really invaluable,” Mr. Kennedy said in an interview.

Mr. McGovern, who was asked to serve as Mr. Kennedy's mentor by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he feels Mr. Kennedy does not really need a mentor, and that he is “ready for the task” of serving the state's 4th District come January.

“One of the things people were impressed with when they met him on the campaign trail is the fact that he did his homework,” said Mr. McGovern, who early in his congressional tenure served with Kennedy's father, former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, D-Mass. “He knew about all the economic development projects, and he knew what was important to the community.”

When Mr. McGovern was sworn into office on the House floor in January 1997, he asked both of his mentors — the late U.S. Rep. J. Joseph Moakley, D-Mass., for whom Mr. McGovern was an aide for many years; and the late U.S. Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D. — to stand with him. (George McGovern, who died in October at age 90, was not related to James McGovern.)

Mr. McGovern, whose primary role as mentor has been to informally advise Mr. Kennedy, said he had passed along guidance similar to that which his mentors had given him.

“Moakley's advice was get to know everybody in this Congress on a first-name basis … because a lot of your ability to get things done here is about relationships,” he said.

Added Mr. McGovern, “(George) McGovern told me that if you want to be a good member of Congress, then you have to get over the fear of losing an election.”

Although he did not specify the committees to which he hoped to be assigned, Mr. Kennedy noted that he is interested in issues related to “economic opportunity and economic mobility.”

A former Peace Corps volunteer who did development work in Southeast Asia and Africa, he also mentioned his interest in international affairs.

“Education is a big part of this, which includes anything from early childhood, strong primary and secondary education, and keeping college affordable,” he said. “The life sciences and biotechnology have a very bright future in Massachusetts and particularly the 4th District.”

Because of redistricting in Massachusetts, which decreased the number of congressional districts from 10 to nine, Mr. Kennedy — who succeeds retiring U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. — will inherit some communities formerly represented by Mr. McGovern. Among them are Franklin, Medway and Attleboro.

“He's inherited a lot of communities that I represented before redistricting,” Mr. McGovern said. “They are communities that I care very deeply about, and I feel that those communities are in good hands.”